After a long exile in political wilderness, Ramakrishna Hegde has managed to come back to the news columns. Expelled from the Janata Dal after H.D. Deve Gowda - who was just a provincial leader in Hegde's home State while he was being touted as a future prime minister - became India's Prime Minister, the former Karnataka chief minister was desperately waiting for an opportunity to bounce back. And his party, the Lok Shakti, for its launching pad. After he formally struck a deal with the BJP for the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, Hegde spoke to Neerja Chowdhury. Excerpts from the interview: What went wrong? I presume, an alliance with the Congress would have been your first preference?Sonia Gandhi's entry must have changed their (Congress leaders') attitude. I found them becoming different overnight after she gave her consent to campaign.Sonia Gandhi, having become a citizen of the country, even though belatedly, has every right to join a party or campaign or to stand for elections. But what people will not like are the kind of statements senior Congressmen have made - that Sonia Gandhi alone can save the party and save the country. The Congress Party was not born yesterday. It has a history of 112 years. If such statements had come from any other party, I would not have said anything. But with the Congress - I was born into the party - I feel very sad and distressed. So it was your anti-dynasty stand that clinched the issue?Yes. Personally, I have nothing against her. She's a nice lady, she's quite active in the various trusts she heads. Do you think she will make a difference?You mean, give an advantage to the Congress? People are not so gullible today. What is her qualification except that she is the widow of Rajiv Gandhi? She doesn't even come from the Nehru family. She will still be considered a foreigner. What does she know about India and its people? I thought she was wise. These people have done her a great harm by trying to use her for their selfish ends. You mean the Congress leaders?Yes, by bringing her into the focus they are exposing her to grave danger. To her life?Could be. I don't know. You know what happened in Delhi when thousands of Sikhs were killed. It's quite obvious why she kept away from it (politics) for so long. You said that the Congress seemed to change its attitude overnight?When I met Sitaram Kesri on December 24, we had a fairly long discussion on the political situation in the country. He said,`Our local leaders are busy in council elections, they'll be coming to Delhi, I'll give you a call on the 30th and we'll continue this discussion.' I went away. I didn't get any call from him on the 30th. On January 1, I got a call from Kesri. He said,`Aap to 30 ko aye nahin.' I said,`You did not ask me to come, you said you will call.' I told him I could come on the 6th. He said,`You phone me as soon as you arrive'. On the 6th I phoned him as soon as I came to Delhi. He said he would call me back. But there was no call from him. I thought maybe he was upset with the ugly scenes at the NSUI meeting. On the 7th, out of courtesy, I called him. By now I knew that the party had changed its mind because of Sonia Gandhi. Again I was told he would call back. He didn't. We never met after that. Was it a difficult decision for you to ally with the BJP?Yes, mainly because my colleagues in the the Janata Dal were telling me it's better to have seat adjustments with the Congress rather than with the BJP. I didn't want to brush aside their views. I thought gradually I would bring them around. But no one has come?Some may come. They have been under tremendous pressure. Deve Gowda has been telling them that he would give them Rs 1 crore each for elections. Last time, he gave them anything from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore each. Was there no chance of a patch-up between you and Deve Gowda?One of my greatest mistakes in politics was to bring back Deve Gowda into the Janata Dal fold in 1989. He had broken our party. He joined Chandra Shekhar and floated another party. But they won two miserable seats. He contested from two constituencies and lost in both. In those circumstances I brought him back. Have you talked to BJP leaders about changing their programme?I've been telling them, whatever you have said or not said, what was contained in Atal Behari Vajpayee's two speeches in the Lok Sabha as Prime Minister and the President's address to the joint session of Parliament in May 1996, should become your politics. Do they agree?Not categorically. Some of them say, it'll come by and by. After all, Article 370 was used totally for political purposes.It can never be deleted just as Article 19 on fundamental rights can never be abolished. Babri Masjid was not in the BJP's manifesto in 1989, otherwise V.P. Singh and all of us would never have sought the BJP's support. Suddenly it happened in reaction to Mandal. With your long innings in politics and everything you have stood for, don't you feel uneasy about aligning with the BJP?I might have ben more uneasy if I had joined hands with the Congress. It's the Congress which clamped the Emergency. It's the Congress which has destroyed the federal strength of our Constitution. It's the Congress which has brought in dynastic rule. What about seat-sharing with the BJP?I hope it'll be 50:50, 14 seats each. Will the Muslims go away from you this time?Muslims have been with me not because of the party but because of my views and credentials as a secular person, and because of what I did for them, Christians and Anglo-Indians when I was in office. You still want a presidential system of governace?Yes, I've beern arguing for it for 10 years now, and I feel it is the only answer.
